Granholm tells state to work with donors

State rebuffed Meijer's $1 million pledge for park.

State rebuffed Meijer's $1 million pledge for park.

June 08, 2006

LANSING (AP) -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she wants the state to find a way to work with donors such as retail magnate Fred Meijer, whose pledge of $1 million toward the completion of White Pine Trail State Park was turned down. Meijer's offer was rejected because it hinged on adding his name to the 92-mile hiking and bicycling trail built on a former rail bed. Officials said it would go against state policy to rename the trail. Granholm has directed the state's Natural Resources Trust Fund Board to resolve the issue at its June 14 meeting, The Grand Rapids Press reported. She told the board to develop a resolution that "will allow the state to accept the generous donation from the Meijer Foundation for the White Pine Trail, while still recognizing the other significant public and private support the trail has received. "Fred Meijer is a great Michiganian, and we must find a way to embrace his generosity," Granholm said in a statement. The offer by Meijer, whose family owns Meijer Inc., a Walker-based chain of Midwestern grocery and general merchandise stores, raised questions about naming rights among state officials. Meijer Foundation spokesman Mike Julien said he welcomed the governor's support for a policy that allows private donors to better work with the state. "Fred's pledge was not rescinded when he got turned down," Julien said. "And it sounds like the state has taken the first step to accept his pledge and those of other various donors in the future." The north-south trail stretches from Cadillac to Comstock Park, a northern suburb of Grand Rapids. Most of the trail surface is hard-packed gravel, with two 13-mile stretches of asphalt pavement: from Reed City to Big Rapids and from just south of Cedar Springs to Comstock Park.